Warp knitting machine



Jan. 11, 1944. E. coTTERlLL 2,339,153

WARP KNITTM MACHINE Filed June 24, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 MMM Jan. 1l,1944. E. coTTERlLL WARP KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1942 4Sheets-Sheet 2 ven'or ERNEST COTTERILL Jan. l1, 1944. E, COTTERILL2,339,153

WARP KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 llf Zi-2vena?" ERNEST COT T ERILL 3i? ZZ dZ-arrzy Jan. 11, 1944. E.'co'rTl-:RILL 2,339,153

WARP KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 /N vf/v TUR77765! falle/'17! Patented Jan. 1l, 1944 2,339,153 l WABP KNITTINGMACHINE Ernest Cotterill, Braintree, England, assigner to CourtauldaLimited, London, England, a British company Application June 24, 1942,Serial No. 448,288 In Great Britain July 17, 1941 6 Claims.

There have been various proposals to provide knitting machines with hookneedles that cooperate with independent tongues which slide in groovesor bores in the shanks of the needles. In such arrangements each needleis moved toand-i'ro along a. straight or arcuate line substantiallycoincident with the axis of its shank, and the co-operating tongue issimilarly moved in timed relationship with the needle between a positionin which the tip of the tongue is concealed in the needle shank and aposition in which the tip of the tongue overlaps the needlehook. 'I'heshank has to be formed with a short tapered portion the apex of whichjoins the base of the hook so that, when the tip of the tongue isconcealed in the shank, a loop of yarn from within the hook can pass toa point enabling the tongue to pass through the loop. Then, the loop iscast oil' over the tip oi the tongue and over the hook while the tongueoverlaps the hook.

An aim oi' the present invention yis to simplify the action of knittingmachines, particularly of warp knitting machines which may be capable ofhigh speed operation and readily adapted for the insertion of weft intothe knitted fabric. This aim is achieved, according to the invention, byproviding a warp knitting machine with hook needles along which the tipsof tongues move while the needles and tongues are moved to-andirotransversely to the needle shanks and in the planes of the needle hooks.Conveniently this movement may be imparted by causing the group ofneedles and the group of tongues respectively to swing about separateaxes remote from the needle hooks and from the tips of the tongues.Then, while part of each tongue remains continuously in engagement withthe associated needle, the transverse movement of the needle and tongueas a result of the swinging motion causes the tip of the tongue to movetowards and away from a position in which it covers the needle hook,

The-transverse swinging motion of the needles in the planes of theirhooks enables the machine to be provided with a simplified warp guideassembly in which the warp guides are only moved parallel to the row ofneedles in accordance with the pattern of the knitted fabric being made,

the usual transverse swinging movement of the warp guides beingunnecessary.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect, mechanism in accordance therewith will now bedescribed, by way of example, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram,

Figure 2 is a vertical section through part of a warp knitting machine;Figures 3 to 'I are sectional diagrammatic elevations, respectively, ofmodiiications of the needle and tongue assembly appearing in Fig. 2; andFig. 8 is a partial view in elevation of the warp knitting machine shownin Fig. 2.

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically the manner of operation of a needle andtongue assembly used in the machine o! Figure 2. Referring to Figure 1,a. needle I, which is shown in two positions, is formed at one end witha hook 2 and has a grooved shank in which lies part of a tongue I, shownin two positions corresponding to the two positions of the needle.Previously, the needle and tongue in such an assembly have been arrangedto undergo relative to-and-fro movement along the axis of the needleshank. According to the present invention, however, the needle andtongue, instead of undergoing longitudinal movement, are arranged toswing to-and-fro respectively about axes A and B. Thus, the needle hooktraverses an arc C and the tip of the tongue traverses an arc D. Thesetwo arcs intersect at a point E so that the tip of the tongue overlapsthe needle hook at this point but is withdrawn into the groove in theneedle shank when the needle and tongue have moved to a position such asthe right-hand position in Figure l. Accordingly, the movement of thetip of the tongue relatively to the needle necessary for knitting takesplace solely as a result of the swinging movements about the axes A andB.

In the warp knitting machine of Figure 2, there is a. row of needles laand a row of tongues 3a which extend respectively into the grooves inthe needles la. As usual in a warp knitting machine, the' needles arecarried in a long row, parallel to each other, by a needle bar 4, thetail ends of the needles being moulded into blocks 5 of lead orsynthetic resin secured side by side along the length of the needle bar4. Figure 2 is a vertical section in a, plane at right angles to thelength v of the machine so that only one of the needles appears. andthis in side elevation, while the needle bar appears in cross-section.This, of course, applies also to the other knitting elements, which aredescribed below, and to the bars carrying blocks 8 and the bar 1 isprovided by blades I. secured in the blocks 8 and projecting into a1ongitudinal groove in the bar 1 to form a knife-edge pivot. Leafsprings 9 distributed along the tongue bar 1 bear on the blocks 6 tomaintain the tongues in their respective needle grooves.

The needle bar 4 is fixed to a rock shaft I0 and is rocked about theaxis of that shaft by eccentrics distributed along the length of adriving shaft II which is rotated uniformly during the operation of themachine. The strap I2 of one such eccentric appears in Figure 2 and eachsuch strap carriesa rod I3 pivoted to an associated arm I4 ilxed to therock shaft I0. The needles are swung to-and-fro through an angle of theorder of 20 about the axis of the shaft I0 while the tongues 3a undergocorresponding movements, being moved in a counter-clockwise direction(as viewed in Figure 2) by the needles themselves and in the oppositedirection by the leaf springs 9. At all times the tongues engage thebases of the grooves in the needle Shanks.

In warp knitting machines as normally constructed hitherto, in which theneedles reciprocate along the axes of their shanks, the warp guidesnecessary to lay the threads on the needles are swung to-and-frotransversely across the plane in which the row of needles lies. However,in the example shown in Figure 2, the movement of the needles themselvesis such that this transverse movement of the warp guides is unnecessaryand there are two rows I5 and I1 of warp guides carried respectively byguide bars IB and I8 which do not move transversely. Nevertheless, asthe needles are rocked, their hooks 2a follow an arc C' so that therequired relative movement between the needles and warp guides takesplace. In this fashion the threads are received by the needles as eachneedle passes between a pair of warp guides. It will, however, beappreciated that, although the guide bars I6 and I8 do not undergo anytransverse movement, it is still necessary to move them longitudinallyaccording to some pattern in order to impart the so-called shoggingmovements to the Warp guides.

So that the required amount of movement of the loops of yarn along theneedles may take place, it is necessary to arrange sinkers I9 to ensurefirstly that the loops travel to positions on the needles Ia in whichthe tongues 3a can pass through them, and secondly that the loops areknocked over the hooks 2a in the casting-off 0peration. To enable thesinkers to perform these functions, they are arranged to undergo bothhorizontal and vertical movements. The sinkers are, therefore, securedat their opposite ends in blocks and 2|, mounted respectively onlongitudinal bars 22 and 23 in a frame 24 which has substantiallyhorizontal movements imparted to it at one side, and substantiallyvertical movements imparted to it at the other side. It will be seenthat the needles I a and tongues 3a project upwards so that each needleand its associated tongue passes between a pair of sinkers I9. Thehorizontal transverse movements are imparted to the frame 24 by cams 25distributed along the driving shaft II and acting on rockers 26 pivotedabout an axis 21, the rockers respectively being pivoted to the frame 24by points distributed along an axis 28. A spring 29 maintains a roller30 on each rocker 26in engagement with the associated cam 25. Thevertical movement is imparted to the other side of the frame 24 by cams3| distributed along and fixed to the driving shaft I I. Each such camacts on a follower 32 mounted to swing about an axis Il, a spring umaintaining s. roller Il on the follower 32 in engagement withtheassociated cam 3|. Each follower 22 is connected to the frame 24 by alink 38. Each sinker Il is formed with a throat 31 shaped to control theloops of yarn in the desired fashion as the composite motion is impartedto the sinkers. 'I'he cloth is withdrawn in the direction of the arrowsX and passes through the frame 24, while the warp threads pass to thewarp guides I5 and I1 in the direction of the arrows Y. When weft is tobe incorporated strands of weft are fed towards the sinkers Il in aplane. containing the arrows Z, parallel to the rows of warp guides.Then, each weft thread is deposited into the fabric at a point Just tothe right of the slnker throats 31, when the sinkers have been raisedand moved to the left substantially to the end of their stroke remotefrom that in which they appear in Figure 2, and when the needle hookshave been swung downwards beneath the sinker throats.

Many modications of the machine appearing in Figure 2 are possible. Forinstance, the needles and tongues may be constructed as shown in Figure3 where the needle I b has a grooved shank which, towards its forward orupper end, becomes tubular in cross-section, and each tongue 3b consistsof a resilient wire pivoted on a fixed rod 1b. The tongue projectsthrough the tubular portion 40 of the shank. and when the needle is inthe position shown in full lines, the tip of the tongue overlaps theneedle hook 2b. When, however, theneedle is swung to a position such asthat shown in chain lines in Figure 3, the tip of the tongue iswithdrawn into the shank.

Figure 4 shows a needle Ic which is substantially the same as the needleI appearing in Figure 1. The associated tongue. however, consists of aresilient wire 3c. the lower end of which is fixed to a tongue bar 1cthat remains stationary during the operation of the machine. The tongue3c, however, is so positioned that it always bears on the needle Icwithin the groove in the shank thereof. Thus, when the needle is in theposition shown in full lines in Figure 4, the tongue is ilexed so thatits tip overlaps the needle hook 2c, but when the needle is'swung backto a position such as that shown in chain lines, the tip of the tonguerecedes into lthe groove in the needle shank.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 5, a row of needles I d is carried bya needle bar 4d mounted on a rock shaft I0d arranged to be rockedtoand-fro in the same manner as the rock shaft I0 in Figure 2. 'I'heassociated tongues 3d are fixed to a tongue bar 1d mounted on a rockshaft 4I which is biased about its axis in a clockwise direction, asviewed in Figure 5, by one or more springs 42. Thus. the tongues 3d aremaintained in engagement with the needles Id in all positions of thelatter in their to-and-fro motion about the axis of the rock shaft Id.

'I'he arrangement shown in Figure 6 diiers from that shown in Figure 5in that the tongues 3e, instead of being moved directly by the needlesIe, arepositively driven by eccentrics mounted on a driving shaft IIewhich also operates the needles Ie. The tongues 3e are carried by atongue bar 1e mounted on a rock shaft 4 le. Distributed along this rockshaft are arms 43 connected by eccentricv rods 44 to the straps ofeccentrics distributed along the shaft I le.

Figure 7 shows that it is not essential for the needles to undergorocking motion in the planes of their hooks, but they may undergostraight translational motion to-and-fro transversely to their shanksand in the planes of their hooks. Thus, the needles If are carried by aneedle bar 4f fixed to rods 45 distributed along the length of theneedle bar 4f. These rods 45 can slide in horizontal guides 46 and arereciprocable longitudinally by eecentrics 41 on a driving shaft Ilf. Thetongues 3f associatedv with the needles lf are carried by a tongue bar1f xed to a rock shaft lf loaded by one or more springs 42f.Accordingly, as the needles are moved to-and-fro between positions suchas those shown by full lines and chain lines in Figure 7, the tongues 3fare correspondingly rocked about the axis of the rock shaft 4U.

What I claim is:

l. In a warp knitting machine, a plurality of needles, each formed witha. hollow shank and with a hook at one end of said shank, tonguesallocated respectively to said needles and each arranged with one end inoperative association with the corresponding needle and with the otherend remote from the needle, and means for moving said needles and saidtongues to-and-Iro in the planes of the needle hooks and in pathsintersecting the needle shanks at a substantial angle, whereby the tipsof said tongues are caused alternately to overlap said needle hooks andto recede into said hollow shanks.

2. In a warp knitting machine, a plurality of needles, each formed witha hollow shank and with a hook at one end of said shank. said needlesbeing mounted to swing to-and-iro about an axis in the proximity oftheir shanks and remote from their hooks, a plurality of tongues mountedto swing about an axis remote from, but parallel to, said firstmentioned axis, means for oscillating said needles about said rstmentioned axis. and means maintaining the tips of said tongues inoperative relationship with said needles during said oscillating motion,whereby the tips of said tongues alternately overlap said needle hooksand are withdrawn into the hollow needle shanks.

3. 1n a warp knitting machine, a group of needles mounted parallel toeach other in one plane; a group of tongues mounted parallel to eachother in a second plane intersecting said rst mentioned plane, and meansfor moving each of said groups to-and-fro transversely to its planewhile the line of intersection between said planes shifts between aposition in which the tips of said tongues are concealed in said needleshanks and a position in which the tips of said tongues overlap saidneedle hooks, one of said groups being pivoted to swing about an axisremote from, and parallel to, the plane, containing the other group.

4. In a warp knitting machine, a plurality of warp guides mounted toremain constantly in a stationary plane, a plurality of hook needles,each formed with a hollow shank and with a hook at one end of saidshank, mounted in another plane to move to-and-fro across the plane ofsaid warp guides to gather threads from same, and a plurality of tonguesmounted in a third plane to move to-and-fro in sympathy with the motionof said needles between a position in which the tips of said tonguesoverlap the needle hooks and a position in which said tips of saidtongues are concealed in the hollow needle shanks.

5. In a warp knitting machine, a plurality of hook needles, each formedwith a hollow shank and with a hook at one end of said shank, saidneedles being mounted to swing to-and-fro about an axis in the proximityof said shanks and remote from said hooks, a plurality of tonguesanchored along a second axis parallel to, but remote from, the rstmentioned axis, and each allocated to one of said needles, means forswinging said needles about said rst mentioned axis while said tonguescooperate with said needles in moving to-and-fro between a position inwhich their tips overlap the needle hooks. and a position in which theirtips are withdrawn into the needle shanks, and a. plurality of sinkersadapted to move loops of yarn longitudinally along said needles to castsaid loops off said needles.

6. In a warp knitting machine, a plurality of needles, each formed witha hollow shank and with a hook at one end of the shank, means for movingsaid needles to-and-fro transversely to their shanks and in the planesof their hooks, a plurality of sinkers adapted to move loops of yarnlongitudinally on said shanks, means for imparting to said sinkers twocomponents of motion respectively substantially longitudinally andtransversely with respect to said needles, a plurality of tongues alsomounted lto move to-and-fro transversely to said needle shanks and inthe planes of said needle hooks between a position in which the tips ofsaid tongues overlap said needle hooks and a position in which the tipsof said tongues are concealed in said needle shanks. and a plurality oi'warp guides mounted to remain in a stationary plane while said neei dlesreceive yarn therefrom in the to-and-fro motion of said needles.

ERNEST COTTERILL.

